The present invention is related to electromechanical brake systems, and in particular to circular load cells for electric brake actuators.
Electromechanical brakes for aircraft often comprise stator discs and rotor discs. The stator discs are coupled to an axle and do not rotate relative to the axle. The rotor discs are coupled to, and rotate with the wheel, relative to the axle. An electric brake actuator is utilized to apply force to one of the stator discs to compress the stator portion with the rotor portion of the brake. This creates friction that converts kinetic energy into thermal energy in order to slow the rotation of the wheel. In order to better control the actuator, it is desirable to know the force that is being applied to the stator disc by the actuator.
In the past, load cells have been used to determine stresses and strains experienced by the actuator when applying force to the stator disc. These actuators are often circular in shape and thus, measuring devices placed upon the outer diameter of the load cell to measure axial compression and tension will experience bending and hoop stresses, which can cause wear of the device over time. It is desirable to reduce the bending and hoop stresses experienced by the measuring devices implemented on circular load cells.